Amazon testing unmanned flying drones to make deliveries - watch

Online retailer Amazon is testing a new delivery service powered by unmanned drones.

The company's CEO Jeff Bezos revealed the flying drones known as Octocopters, which could deliver items weighing up to 2.3kg to customers within 30 minutes of placing an order.

Speaking on CBS television program 60 Minutes, Bezos warned that the service could take up to five years to get started, adding that the US Federal Aviation Administration is yet to approve the technology.

"We can do half-hour delivery... and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds (2.3kg), which covers 86% of the items that we deliver," Bezos said.

"I know this looks like science fiction, but it's not."

The drones will operate under a new service called Prime Air and are able to make deliveries autonomously using GPS co-ordinates to locate and drop off packages to the target destination.

Amazon said that the technology is ready to begin but awaits the decision of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"From a technology point of view, we'll be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place," he explained. "The FAA is actively working on rules for unmanned aerial vehicles.

"We hope the FAA's rules will be in place as early as sometime in 2015. We will be ready at that time."

It's not clear whether Prime Air will be available outside the US within Amazon's target dates.